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Chapter 9: Solvents and hydrocarbons · Part 1: Glycol ethers

DPM

  • Made from a hazardous chemical
Also called
dipropylene glycol methyl ether, dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether
Found in
hard-surface cleaners

The worst fact: it's absorbed through skin, and Australia's workplace limit (50 ppm) carries a skin-absorption warning. People found 300 to 400 ppm "very disagreeable".

Why brands use it: it dissolves grease and couples water and oil, with a mild smell.

Take care if: nothing beyond normal label directions.

Comes from: propylene oxide reacted with methanol. Australia classes propylene oxide as "May cause genetic defects; May cause cancer". That doesn't mean it's in the product, but it's not a great starting point for something you clean with.

Myth check: "Glycol ethers are all reproductive toxins": commercial propylene glycol ethers showed no birth defects in the OECD's review.

Contaminants: nil.

Fair to say: it's one of the lowest-concern solvents in this chapter. It isn't scheduled in Australia, patch tests on 250 people caused no allergy, and the US EPA lists it as "verified to be of low concern".

Correct as of November 2026. What the badges mean

Sources

  • Safe Work Australia. Hazardous Chemical Information System (HCIS): classifications for each chemical, and for ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, epichlorohydrin, benzene, 1,3-butadiene-containing butane and 1,2-dichloroethane. Workplace exposure standards (amended November 2025) and workplace exposure limits (July 2025). Labelling of workplace hazardous chemicals code of practice (2015). Trichloroethylene health monitoring guide.
  • US EPA. Trichloroethylene; regulation under TSCA, 89 FR 102568 (2024), and later notices (2025–2026); Perchloroethylene; regulation under TSCA, 89 FR 103560 (2024), and 91 FR 47145 (2026); 40 CFR 751.305 and 751.605; Carbon tetrachloride rule (2024); IRIS: ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (2010); Safer Choice Ingredient List.
  • OECD. SIDS initial assessment: propylene glycol ethers (SIAM 17, 2003).
  • HSDB (US National Library of Medicine), via PubChem: manufacturing, use and impurity data.
  • HERA. Propylene glycol n-butyl ether (2005); hydrotropes (2005).

The full source list is at the end of Chapter 9.